For the large area processing of fixable interlining materials the advantages of nonwoven fabrics over woven and knit fabrics are well known. Such advantages include good bulk at light weights, easy cutting and punching and soft, full-bodied hand. In many cases, softness, combined with a certain form or shape stability, is desired for easier working. As noted above, nonwoven fabrics are soft; however, they generally do not have the desired form stability. When nonwoven fabrics are modified to provide more form stability the desired softness may be lost and a relatively hard hand developes. In contrast, knit fabrics generally have good form stability but lack the softness of nonwovens.
Nonwoven/knit composite materials are generally known for applications where the combined softness of the former with the form stability of the latter is of importance. For use as iron-on interlinings, however, such composites have heretofore proven unsuitable, because after dry cleaning undesirable unevenness or distortion of the lined fabrics surface occurs probably due to differences in the dimensional changes of the nonwoven and knit plies of the composite.